Reading The Last Olympian
by paishriya
Summary: Basically, it is the gods, Percy and Annabeth reading the last olympian before it actually happens.
1. Getting started

It was a fine day at Mount Olympus. Or at least it was as fine as it could be with a month to the famous Percy Jackson's sixteenth birthday. All the twelve main gods, except Lord Poseidon, were already seated in their respective thrones in the humongous throne room.

Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared and voila, Poseidon was standing there in his usual attire with his trident in his right hand.

Everyone turned to face him with surprise clearly written. Even Poseidon looked as if he had not expected to be there. Zeus angrily stood up and glared at his brother.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" his voice thundered across the entire room. Ares looking for a fight between the brothers, as usual, rubbed his hands gleefully but was soon disappointed when Poseidon raised his hands in a 'peace motion'.

"Relax brother. I myself do not know what I am doing here. One minute I was in my palace and the next, I was standing here." The lord of the sea replied with genuine sincerity.

Poseidon and barely finished his sentence when Lord Hades and goddess Hestia appeared in the same fashion as Poseidon. "Now let me guess," Zeus murmured thoughtfully, "the both of you were also in your respective palaces before you were teleported here?"

The duo looked at each other in surprise and nodded. Athena stood up and said, "Father, this must mean that someone wants all of us to be present here for something very important."

Everyone nodded in agreement to the wise Athena's statement but were unsure of what was going to happen.

After a few minutes, the gods were clearly getting impatient. Just then, another much awaited puff and smoke appeared and this time, it was not another god who appeared but it was Percy Jackson and Annabeth!

"Son, what are you doing here?" Poseidon asked with worry lacing his tone. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

Percy and Annabeth bowed to all the gods including Hades who seemed surprised. Percy then gestured to the book in his hands and said, "I would like to inform all of you that you are present here because Annabeth and I have received a rather interesting book that has to be read. We are from the future and this book is about all your futures too. Right now it is the year 2009 but we are from 2010."

Everyone gasped at Percy's revealation. Even Athena hadn't seen this coming. "The boy is right," Zeus grudgingly admitted, "we have to read this book. All in favour?"

All the gods raised their hands in one swift motion. Percy cleared his throat and asked, "Can all of you please shrink to your human sizes and I do recommend that we should get more comfortable as it is going to be a long day."

The god shrank and a couch appeared for Percy and Annabeth. Both of them sat down and Percy wrapped his arms around Annabeth's waist. She snuggled closer to her boyfriend and Athena narrowed her eyes at the scene playing out in front of her but chose not to comment on it.

"So, who shall begin reading first?" Poseidon asked.

"I will." Athena said and took the book from Percy's hands and settled into her chair.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Go Cruising With Explosives **Athena began

**The end of the world started when a Pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**.

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically, I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel **

Annabeth shot a Percy a glare while he cowered. Their interaction was not missed by the gods.

**and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.**

**Now I now you're thinking, Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah, but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred metres wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done. **

"You can that again." Some of the gods muttered together while the others chuckled at their faces.

**Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas. **

"A MILLION GOLDEN DRACHMAS?" Annabeths's voice thundered.

"You look like a billion golden drachmas plus I was just exaggerating, my love." Percy said as sweetly as he could to appease her. She huffed and gave him a look that said that they would discuss this matter further. Percy gulped.

"**Oh, pull up right there!" she told me. **

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favourite places, but today it was especially nice- glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.**

"Aw uncle...that is so sweet of you." Apollo said in a babyish voice while Poseidon glared at him.

**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

"Way to go captain obvious." Hermes said in his joking tone.

"**So". Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

"**Oh…right". I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd ask me to her family vacation house on St Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.**

**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was 'on call' for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was the prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

"It was bad alright." Percy nodded in agreement with his own thoughts. "Glad to know that at least you agree with yourself, seaweed brain." Annabeth added with a wink.

"**Percy," Rachel said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's **_**always**_** bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

"**I really want to go", I promised. "It's just-"**

"**The war".**

All the gods and demi-gods flinched.

**I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the mist- the magic veil that distorts human vision. She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been their last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in his terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush. **

"Good weapon." Ares said with a roll of his eyes. "Oooh beauty products are so useful, not that I need any of course." Aphrodite chipped in.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…"her voice faltered.**

"**Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be nice to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies' Academy in the autumn." **

"**The school where your mom went?" **

"**It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, although way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"**

**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to 'Save the Endangered Yellow-Bellied Sap Sucker' and stuff like that. I'd never seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite. **

"You bet!" Annabeth and Percy said together.

**She sighed. "He thinks if he does a bunch a nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

"Dads..." Percy said with a groan but quickly added when he noticed Poseidon staring at him weirdly, "I mean no offence to you, dad."

"**Which is why he agrees to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

"**Yes…but, Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favour. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk-" She stopped abruptly.**

"**Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean…..so serious we'd have to go to St Thomas to talk about it?"**

**She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire. **

Annabeth once again glared at Percy while he pretended not to notice her. Aphrodite clapped her hands like a teenage girl who was watching her favourite drama series.

**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for saying some breathing room. I needed to remind myself the mortal world was still out here, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.**

"**Okay," I said, "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."**

**She nodded. "And so….. hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

"PERCY JACKSON, You better not have kissed her!" this came from Annabeth of course. Percy, who decided to use his brain, sent Athena a pleading look which made her continue reading.

"**Oh…." I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows- slow, dumb and bright red. **

"Hey! I take offence to that!" Apollo shouted like an indignant child. Percy muttered a quick sorry.

"**Um….."**

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than….well, than some other girls I knew.**

"Cough-Annabeth-cough." And it surprisingly came from Hera who hated the demi-gods, especially Athena's daughter. Everybody looked at her as if she had grown two heads.

**I didn't have to work hard or watch what I said, or wrack my brain my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

**I am not sure what I would've done next, but I was so distracted. I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a WUMP-WUMP-CRUNCH! **

_**Hey, boss**_**, a voice said in my head. **_**Nice car!**_

"Wow! The Pegasus knows about cars!" Apollo rejoiced as Artemis rolled her eyes at her silly _elder_ brother.

**Blackjack the Pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood, but I didn't think Paul Blowfis would be real stoked. **

"**Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you-"**

**Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.**

"**Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, senior counsellor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies. **

Hephaestus was proud of his son and even Aphrodite was happy as she knew that her daughter had found true love in Beckendorf. Annabeth's and Percy's face grew sad the moment Charles's name was mentioned which caused a few gods to get worried.

**He was huge, with ripped muscles from working in the forges every summer. He was two years older than me and one of the camp's best armour-smiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek fire bomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went **_**flush**_**.**

All the gods nodded as it had happened quite recently while Hephaestus, no longer able to keep his pride to himself, boomed, "That's my boy!"

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breast plate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**

"**Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

**A lump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning it for weeks but I'd half hoped it would never happen. **

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf . "Hi".**

"**Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me…uh, I mean mentioned you."**

Percy did not even look at Annabeth but he did pull her closer and buried his face in her hair, kissing it once.

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to save the world now."**

"**Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed. **

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom-" **

"**I'll tell her. I am sure she is used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

"You can bet on that!" Hermes said, speaking for the second time, everyone looked at surprised that he was even listening.

"**Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react. "**

By now, Annabeth was positively seething. "She did WHAT?" she questioned, more like she demanded. Even Athena looked very angry. It was definite that whatever respect she had for Percy was gone in a flash.

"Annabeth, love, you know I didn't do anything. She caught me by surprise. You know I love you and that you are the only woman in my life who I feel like this about, right?" Percy said in his most soothing voice hoping to calm Annabeth down. All the women, except for Artemis and Athena, 'awwwwed'. Even the latter was glad that Percy loved her daughter so much.

**Now get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, he arms crossed as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to be about and whether I would live long enough to find out.**

"**So," Beckendorf said. "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

"I wonder what would have happened if he had."Hades said, speaking for the first time. It was evident that he had great pleasure from watching his nephew and enemy squirm because of a mere girl.

"**Oh, gods", I muttered. "Don't even think about it".**

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.**

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The **_**Princess Andromeda **_**glowed on the horizon- a huge cruise ship lit up yellow and white. **

At the mere mention of the ship, Hermes's face turned dark.

**From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then, as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead- a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.**

**Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**. Now it was heading straight for New York.**

"**You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind. **

**I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.**

"You are going to blast the ship?"Athena asked. When she saw Percy's nod she added, "Not that bad for the son of Poseidon."

"**Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern deck."**

_**Gotcha, boss**_**, he said. **_**Man, I hate seeing that boat**_**.**

**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** until he'd escaped with a little help from my friend and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.**

Apollo and Ares burst out laughing trying to ease some tension in the room. "Gotta admit, uncle, your punk of a son does have cool thoughts." Percy blushed while Poseidon looked at his son with pride.

"**Don't wait for us," I told him.**

_**But, boss-**_

"**Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."**

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship- **_**dracaenae**_** snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid sea-lions demons known as telkhines-but we zipped by so fast none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.**

_**Good luck, boss**_**, Blackjack said. **_**Don't let 'em turn you into horsemeat!**_

Zeus chuckled and had to admit, that Pegasus had a cool attitude.

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket, uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to full size- one metre of deadly celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. **

At the mention of his beloved sword, Percy removed the ballpoint pen and looked at it with reverence.

**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realised it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light- the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. **

"Aw...he is so cute! My daughter has chosen well." Aphrodite gushed.

**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying, "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Becendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him.**

"**We'll make it back to camp," I promised.**

**For a second, I saw worry in his eyes. Then, he put on his old confident smile.**

"**You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million pieces."**

"Now that's the spirit punks." Ares boomed glad that they ere getting to the gory parts.

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.**

"**I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it was a meatloaf sandwich!"**

"**Meatloaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood, I swear. They are on board!"**

"**Bah, your **_**brain**_** isn't on board."**

**They continued to argue and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines began to fade. **

**Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room".**

Athena, ever being the strategist, mused, "Hmm...good plan but I do have a feeling that something will go wrong." Percy and Annabeth shared a dark look at this.

**It was locked, but as Beckendorf pulled some chains cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.**

"Yeah, Hephaestus's children can do that." Hera added dryly.

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on.**

Even Zeus, who hated Percy, had to admit that Percy could see the best in every situation.

**All the gods burst out laughing. "I have to admit Poseidon, your son can see the best in every situation." Zeus said through his laughter. **

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust. **

"**One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." **

"That is so not funny." Artemis said with a shake of his head.

**He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool to demigod heroes – duct tape.**

"**Slap that one of the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."**

**We went to work, the room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.**

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have a perfect bearing at sea. **

"Of course" Poseidon beamed.

**Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 degrees north, 71.90 degrees west, making eighteen knots, which would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it.**

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard pounding feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign. I locked eyes with Beckendorf, "How much longer?"**

"**Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least." **

**Judging from the sounds of footsteps, we had about ten seconds.**

"**I'll distract them." I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

"That is not such a good idea son." Poseidon said with worry. Zeus agreed too. Even though he did not like the boy, he had to admit that he was necessary during the war.

"**Percy –"**

"**Wish me luck."**

**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and get out without being spotted. But we had to improvise.**

"**Good luck." He said.**

**I charged out the door. **

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. T cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I kept him alive – partly because his lunch box was cool,**

"Boys..." Artemis grumbled.

**partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.**

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall was once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.)**

**Back on my first visit to the **_**Princess Andromeda, **_**my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. **

Hermes shivered at his favourite son's antics and all the other gods looked at him with sympathy.

**I hated to think of what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd be allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. **

**I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat-Alaskan king crab. I'm talking **_**giant **_**like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, and its pincers larger than my body.**

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size. Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr Crabby.**

"You do seem to use that fact to your benefit quite often." Hera grumbled. Percy just shrugged not knowing how to take her comment.

"**FFFFfffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off him was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.**

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.**

"**Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so–" **

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, ploughing through a rack of t-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr Crabby turned and followed.**

Annabeth shuddered and scowled at the danger Percy was in.

"**There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"**

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the centre of the ship, I was crab chow.**

**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.**

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.**

"Well, that's a small problem isn't it?" Ares joked but Poseidon's glare shut him up.

**To our cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of things he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armour, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.**

**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.**

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks.**

**I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming. "AHHHHHHH!"**

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slide on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven ton vehicle. All the crab had to was sit and squash me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armour, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out backside.**

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red and its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap. **

The throne room was filled with silence for nearly a minute. Percy glanced around, shocked at the gods. At the same time, all of them burst into applause and several compliments were given to Percy. He blushed and asked Athena to continue reading.

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magical, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for not it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.**

**In the elevator foyer of deck eight, a couple of **_**dracaena **_**slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. **

"Good description" Hades said with a chuckle.

**From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.**

"**What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss?"**

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snakes, **

A few chuckles were sounded at that comment.

**but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a "you are here display." I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first **_**dracaena. **_**The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung it around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.**

"**Get him!" she screamed.**

**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-panelled wall of the stairwell.**

**I didn't care – as long as I go the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.**

Percy hung his head at his failure.

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armour was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.**

**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.**

**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. **

"Percy, that is not wise. In a war, you cannot pity everyone you meet." Athena said while the other gods nodded thoughtfully, "remember your fatal flaw."

"What is his fatal flaw?" Ares asked as he always wanted to defeat Percy. "Personal loyalty, he will destroy the whole world if he knew that he could save one of his friends." Percy knew how true Athena's words were and kept quiet.

**I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.**

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it. "If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship **_**now. **_**Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.**

**I kept climbing.**

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half-brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit. **

"It is not possible to sneak up on Kronos." Hera mumbled while Demeter, Hades, Zeus and Poseidon nodded.

**I burst outside the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

**All I had to do was cross the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges a quarter of a mile away.**

"Good plan but I have a feeling something will go wrong." Aphrodite said, making Percy shudder.

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "Your late, Percy."**

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

Hermes gasped at his son's description and bowed his head, expressing his remorse.

"**We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scrapped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."**

"That will never happen!" Poseidon thundered knowing how impertinent his son was, just like himself. A few gods stared at his, surprised at his outburst while Percy just smiled which made his resemblance with Poseidon quite prominent.

"**Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.**

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for the cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armour, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.**

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed… or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.**

"He was not like that!"Hermes bellowed which made Annabeth cower behind Percy but the son of Poseidon was not fazed. He looked at the god of messengers and said, "I know that...now."

**A new voice in my head said: **_**I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?**_

"That is not smart at all Percy" Apollo said, not grinning at all.

**According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.**

**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was **_**Kronos.**_** I had to remember that.**

"You have to, Percy" Annabeth murmured, placing her hand on his forearm.

"**Come forward," he said. "If you dare." **

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot0long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steal. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.**

**Time slowed down. I mean **_**literally **_**slowed down, because Kronos had that power.**

"Yeah, that really sucks." Zeus muttered, shocking everyone with his vocabulary.

**I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy; I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channelling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.**

**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. **_**Dracaena **_**hissed with laughter.**

_**Hey, ocean, **_**I pleaded. **_**Any day now would be good.**_

**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the dock. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.**

"What?"Zeus thundered. It had taken him ten years to defeat his father but this...this boy did it in a matter of minutes?

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake at looking at his face - **_**Luke's face – **_**a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.**

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting in the deck right between my feet.**

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.**

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only reflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: **_**Careful, fool. One touch and that blade will sever your soul from your body.**_** Now I understood what he meant.**

**I wasn't just losing blood; I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

"No!" several shouts echoed from the room while Percy gestured to Athena to continue reading.

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.**

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."**

**My vision started to blur. I knew it didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was **_**his **_**head."**

Chuckles rang out at Percy's statement but quickly died down when they noticed Hermes's glare.

"**A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."**

"**You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

"**And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?"**

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!"**

**A teenage guy in full Greek armour pushed through the crows. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.**

"This is what I meant, young hero." Athena muttered.

"**Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between the, my heart almost stopped. **

Hephaestus shared the same expression which was on Percy's face.

**Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armour was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

"**No!" I yelled.**

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. **_**His watch.**_** They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives where still armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

"**We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

"**Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"**

"**He was going **_**toward**_** the engine room, my lord."**

"**How do you know that?"**

"**Err…" Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."**

**Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.**

"Beckendorf is not thinking about that, Percy" Demeter said in a motherly tone, speaking for the first time.

**Kronos hesitated.**

_**Buy the story, **_**I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.**

"**Open his bag," Kronos ordered.**

**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.**

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

"**Did you, perhaps," he said. "Capture this demigod near the galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um –"**

"**And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"**

"Looks like someone is in trouble," Ares and Apollo said together in a sing-song voice and then stared at each other, surprised.

**Ethan scrambled back in terror then turned on his heels and ran.**

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: **_**How long?**_

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. **_**Zero.**_

**There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.**

**Kronos turned towards me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."**

**He held out his hand and dangled a little sliver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.**

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think.**

**I muttered, "Communication device... spy at camp."**

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on your friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way, now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."**

"Percy, no!" Annabeth and Poseidon said together.

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: **_**Go.**_

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.**

"You have to! It is the only way to save the world!" Poseidon insisted but there was a weary edge in his voice.

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – toward the watch on his wrist.**

**I wanted to scream, **_**NO!**_

**Then down at the swimming pool, one of the**_** dracaena**_** hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"**

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought down his hand up to his watch.**

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through the crowed of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – toward the water a hundred feet below. **

**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierces my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away – a hundred yards, two hundred yards.**

**Even from a distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The **_**Princess Andromeda **_**blew up from both sides, massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

"No...!" Hephaestus roared while Percy fell to his knees in shame.

**Beckendorf, I thought,**

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

The gods were silent for a moment, mourning for Beckendorf. Aphrodite was thinking about her daughter and her grief. Hephaestus just wanted to go and make sure his son was safe.

That was when Annabeth noticed Percy and his expression. "Percy," she cooed gently, "it is not your fault." Percy faced her and she was heart-broken by the expression on his face. He nodded and said, "well everyone, this chapter was hard to hear but trust me the upcoming chapters are worse. Kronos may not have destroyed the world but he did destroy a lot of things."

"Who will read next?" Athena asked.

"I will."Aphrodite volunteered.


End file.
